In 1962, guitarist Jet Harris left
the Shadows and was signed to
Decca Records as a solo artist, releasing his debut hit single "
Besame Mucho" in May 1962. Former Shadows' drummer
Tony Meehan was working at Decca as a producer and suggested to Harris that they team up. He asked
Jerry Lordan, writer of several hits for the Shadows ("
Apache", "
Wonderful Land" and "
Atlantis"), for an instrumental with bass guitar and a drum solo, and he gave them "Diamonds". "Diamonds" was recorded on 23 November 1962 at
Decca Studios. Harris detuned a
Fender Jaguar electric guitar in order to hit much lower notes than an ordinary guitar. The recording session was the first to feature
Jimmy Page, who played rhythm on an acoustic guitar. It also features bass guitar by
John Paul Jones, who along with Page would go onto form
Led Zeppelin. "Footstomp" features
lead vocals by Harris and
harmony vocals by Meehan. It also features
Joe Moretti on acoustic rhythm guitar, who would also play lead guitar on "
Scarlett O'Hara" and "
Applejack". ==Track listing==